Kevin Warsh will be sworn in to lead the Federal Reserve by President Donald Trump on Friday.
Warsh was Trump’s top pick for the job and will succeed Jerome Powell, whose term expires Friday.
Powell intends to remain on the Board of Governors until he is satisfied that a Trump administration criminal probe of him is fully wound down.
Powell was sworn in as temporary chair on Friday to bridge the leadership gap until Warsh is formally installed.
Once seated, Warsh will become the 11th chair in the modern era and will be the wealthiest person to ever hold the seat based on financial disclosures he filed ahead of confirmation.
He will have to divest himself of much of the investments that he has accrued in his portfolio to comply with the stringent new regulations adopted for Fed officials.
Trump nominated Warsh for the job with expectations that the post-Powell Fed would resume lowering interest rates, as it did three times in 2025.
However, markets expect that elevated levels of inflation and a stable labour market likely will discourage further easing until there’s ample evidence that the pace of price increases is again headed back to the Fed’s 2% goal.
Powell presided over a Fed that has missed the target for more than five years running.
